I wanted to share with
you a recent article written by HLI's Arland K. Nichols about our Holy
Father Pope Francis. As Arland points out, "[Pope Francis'] homilies,
speeches, and actions during the first days of his pontificate contain
rich lessons for those who proclaim the Gospel of Life. But one
consistent theme has emerged in his addresses and actions: Thirst for
the Absolute and relationship with Him."
In the battle to defend
and promote the sanctity of life and family, we cannot win without the
grace and loving guidance of Our Lord. We can never forget that while
it's the political battles that get the media headlines, we are very
much engaged in a spiritual battle as well. And only by drawing closer
to God and letting Him fill our hearts can that battle be won. May God
bless you.
Though the world barely knows Pope Francis, it has rushed to judge him. As Caitlin Bootsma has
lamented,
"Catholics, of all stripes, immediately sought to measure Pope Francis
against their own goals for the papacy." Rather than measuring him
according to our interests and wants, we should make haste to pray for
him. We should, further, seek to learn from Pope Francis as students
before the master teacher.
His homilies, speeches, and actions
during the first days of his pontificate contain rich lessons for those
who proclaim the Gospel of Life. But one consistent theme has emerged in
his addresses and actions: Thirst for the Absolute and relationship
with Him.
This theme was most evident in his address to the
diplomatic corps where he stressed that "before all else we need to keep
alive in our world the thirst for the absolute." He has stressed that
this thirst comes before and must illumine all other works that we
do-caring for the poor and the outcast, promoting peace, and seeking
solidarity for those who suffer.
"[T]he spiritual poverty of our
time" he told the diplomats, is "what my much-loved predecessor,
Benedict XVI, called the 'tyranny of relativism.'" Our spiritual
poverty-particularly present in wealthy nations-threatens peace and
coexistence because the individual is exalted as his own rule and
measure and thus becomes a threat to creation. Creation here includes
the environment, but has the human person at its summit.
Pope
Francis notes that the "attempt to eliminate God" has resulted in great
violence. Thirst for the good, true and beautiful positions us "to
counter the dominance of a one-dimensional vision of the human person, a
vision which reduces human beings to what they produce and to what they
consume: this is one of the most insidious temptations of our time." He
has shown that this is a lived theology in his dramatic gestures
towards the sick and the disabled. Perhaps this appreciation of the
inherent dignity of each person-regardless of their ability to
produce-was most evident when he stopped his motorcade to embrace and
bless a disabled man who he saw in the massive crowd before his
inauguration at St. Peter's.
Truth, Pope Francis emphasizes, is
the essential precursor to peace. There cannot be true peace in the
midst of the spiritual poverty that pervades "richer countries." The
inversion of "rights" today that readily declares wrongs as rights is
rooted in blindness to God's truth. A necessary criterion of peace is
that man cannot be singularly focused on his own rights but must
prioritize service of others on the basis of a common human nature which
"unites every human being on earth."
As he reminded the media,
we must have a particular concern for the transcendent, because "[the]
Church exists to communicate precisely this: Truth, Goodness and Beauty
'in person'." In his inaugural homily on the Solemnity of St. Joseph, he
identified the head of the Holy Family as the model for us because his
adult life was in service of Jesus. Saint Joseph is able to protect the
gifts given to him precisely "because he is able to hear God's voice and
be guided by his will." This allows him to "be sensitive" to those in
his charge, to perceive things as they are, and to "make truly wise
decisions." Like Joseph, we must be open to God if we hope to protect
God's gifts and establish peace.
Saint Joseph, Pope Francis
suggests, is the model for humanity who must "[b]e protectors of God's
gifts." This is realized, in a particular way for spouses in a threefold
duty of protection: In loving care towards one's spouse, being
dedicated to the upbringing of children, and watching over and
protecting the mystical body of Christ, the Church.
As pontiff,
the Holy Father identifies his charge as "the builder of bridges with
God and between people." He is charged with alleviating the spiritual
poverty of our age by drawing our minds and hearts toward God, by
protecting "God's plan inscribed in nature," and by encouraging an
intimacy with God and neighbor. He hopes to encourage the whole world to
embrace the task of "fighting poverty, both material and spiritual" by
drawing humanity to our source and summit -- God Himself.
